Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper is OS X's security against malware and adware, but it isn't foolproof. A new warning shows how it can be exploited.

Since OS X 10.7.5 Lion Apple has had a security feature called Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper tries to keep the Mac safe from malware and adware. It isn't foolproof, though. A new report shows how one adware installer manages to make it through OS X's defenses. Read on for details.

Malware is a real and present danger on the Mac. Is it time to install anti-virus software?

It's a question we're getting asked with increasing frequency. As the Mac's popularity continues to grow and security stories makes headlines, both real and imagined, it's something more and more Mac owners start thinking about. That's the focus of this week's Mac Help column.

Mac OS X has a couple of great safeguards in place to prevent you from accidentally running malicious applications that might infect or otherwise damage your computer. But that can occasionally also prevent perfectly legitimate applications from running.

Here's how to keep your computer safe and also have the option to open certain software on a case-by-case basis.

OS X's Gatekeeper is a great feature that makes sure the code you're about to run on your Mac is really the code you think you're about to run. We've all seen the pop up reminding us that an application isn't signed and built by developers trusted by Apple, and we should be sure we trust the source we acquired it from before we open it. It's a vital first-step towards security management, and that means it's one of the things that will always be given the highest scrutiny and updated by the folks in Cupertino.

If you're running Mac OS X Mountain Lion you may have come in contact with a new feature called Gatekeeper. The primary function of Gatekeeper is to keep bad apps and malware off your Mac. It does this by only allowing apps that are downloaded from the Mac App Store or from identified and trusted developers be opened. But what if you know the app you're trying to open is safe even though it's not a trusted developer according to Apple?

There are a few ways to bypass Gatekeeper if you run into this issue. Follow along and we'll show you how.

What will Apple bring to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad with iOS 6? What will be the "tentpole" features to take Apple's mobile software into 2013? With WWDC 2012 coming in just over a week, and an iOS 6 beta widely expected to come with it, now's the perfect time to take a look and see what makes sense.

We've already seen some of what is likely coming in iOS 6, including a new version of the Maps app that replaces Google data with Apple data. It wouldn't surprise us in the least if it brings turn-by-turn navigation with it either, by way of Siri...

UPDATE: As expected, Rogue Ameoba's Airfoil Touch has been approved, with the original graphics displayed from Mac OS X. Meanwhile, Gx5 tells us it took over a year to get their one-touch search portal app, iClueless approved following a string of rejections (arguably some warranted, but still incredibly time consuming given Apple's process). Again we wonder if having a "big voice" makes a big difference?

ORIGINAL: Apple Senior VP of Marketing, Phil Schiller, has once again stepped forward to address growing concerns about the iTunes App Store approval process -- but this time he's avoided developers and their complaints about opacity and inconsistency, and instead gone to BusinessWeek to get ahead of the story going mainstream.

Let's think about this for a moment. Schiller's previous, highly publicized comments have been emails addressed to bloggers and Mac developers, and wrung truthy enough to give a tiny glimmer of hope to those who just assumed Apple's upper management was oblivious to the problems around rejected apps. These comments read more like spin; like instead of fixing the App Store, they're worried concerns are spreading beyond developers and the blogsphere, and instead of earnestly working even harder to fix them, they just want to minimize and marginalize the complaints in the minds of the general press and public, who might be hearing about it for the first time following Facebook developer Joe Hewitt's high-profile exodus from the App Store.

The problem is, Apple has historically proven they're terrible at handling bad PR. From the original iPhone price cut to MobileMe's disastrous launch to Steve Jobs' health to everything involving the App Store approval process to date, they come off as wrong-headed and out of touch until it seems almost too late. Case in point, Schiller's comments to BusinessWeek today, where he cites 90% of rejections being related to technical bugs in the app (and contends developers are happy about the "safety net" Apple QA provides). 1% which fall into gray areas Apple hadn't previously considered (example given, apps that help cheat at Casino gambling), and an undisclosed amount that violate trademarks or copyrights: